Arrest made in temple attack
BramptonGuardian Article: Arrest made in temple attack
Arrest made:. Peel Regional Police arrested and charged a Brampton man with attempted murder Sunday in connection with the stabbing of a local lawyer during a protest outside a temple Friday evening.
Brampton man was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of a prominent local lawyer outside a Sikh temple Friday afternoon.
Sukhwant Singh, 52, has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault in the attack on Manjit Mangat, 53, who is still in hospital recovering.
“The victim’s injuries, as serious as they were, he was stabilized in the hospital, but he is still in serious condition,” said Peel Regional Police spokesperson Const. Wayne Patterson.
Singh was held for a bail hearing and will make an appearance in court today, according to police
Mangat, a former judge who is now a Brampton lawyer, was stabbed in the abdomen, thighs and legs and suffered cuts to his face at approximately 3:45 p.m. outside the Sikh Lehar Centre, a temple at Bramsteele Road near Steeles Avenue and Hwy. 410.
A crowd of approximately 150 had gathered to protest a lecture by Darshan Singh, a Sikh preacher who was banished from the religion three months ago by priests in India. The protest turned violent and some 30 to 40 police officers were called to quell the confrontation.
“It was brutal ... he just went outside to calm people down, to tell them the event was cancelled,” Jujhar Mangat, his nephew, said. “The next thing, he was thrown to the ground and viciously attacked.”
Two others were injured and taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Officers with Peel’s Diversity Relations Unit worked with 22 Division detectives, interviewing several witnesses and ensuring constant contact with temple officials.
The controversial preacher was excommunicated for remarks he made about one of the Sikh gurus while singing hymns at a temple in New York last year.
According to the priests’ edict, Singh, who lives in the Toronto area, is forbidden from speaking at any Sikh institution. But some temples, including the Sikh Lehar Centre, have defied that order and invited him to talk.
There have been large crowds and loud protests by Sikhs at every venue in India and England but no other violence.
Harvans Jandali, president of Ontario Sikh and Gurdwara Council, condemned the violence, saying “the fight should have never happened at the temple — that’s a sacred place.”
BramptonGuardian Article: Arrest made in temple attack
Arrest made:. Peel Regional Police arrested and charged a Brampton man with attempted murder Sunday in connection with the stabbing of a local lawyer during a protest outside a temple Friday evening.
Brampton man was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of a prominent local lawyer outside a Sikh temple Friday afternoon.
Sukhwant Singh, 52, has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault in the attack on Manjit Mangat, 53, who is still in hospital recovering.
“The victim’s injuries, as serious as they were, he was stabilized in the hospital, but he is still in serious condition,” said Peel Regional Police spokesperson Const. Wayne Patterson.
Singh was held for a bail hearing and will make an appearance in court today, according to police
Mangat, a former judge who is now a Brampton lawyer, was stabbed in the abdomen, thighs and legs and suffered cuts to his face at approximately 3:45 p.m. outside the Sikh Lehar Centre, a temple at Bramsteele Road near Steeles Avenue and Hwy. 410.
A crowd of approximately 150 had gathered to protest a lecture by Darshan Singh, a Sikh preacher who was banished from the religion three months ago by priests in India. The protest turned violent and some 30 to 40 police officers were called to quell the confrontation.
“It was brutal ... he just went outside to calm people down, to tell them the event was cancelled,” Jujhar Mangat, his nephew, said. “The next thing, he was thrown to the ground and viciously attacked.”
Two others were injured and taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Officers with Peel’s Diversity Relations Unit worked with 22 Division detectives, interviewing several witnesses and ensuring constant contact with temple officials.
The controversial preacher was excommunicated for remarks he made about one of the Sikh gurus while singing hymns at a temple in New York last year.
According to the priests’ edict, Singh, who lives in the Toronto area, is forbidden from speaking at any Sikh institution. But some temples, including the Sikh Lehar Centre, have defied that order and invited him to talk.
There have been large crowds and loud protests by Sikhs at every venue in India and England but no other violence.
Harvans Jandali, president of Ontario Sikh and Gurdwara Council, condemned the violence, saying “the fight should have never happened at the temple — that’s a sacred place.”
